How to Keep Your Kids Eating Healthy

Fast food is a big part of modern life these days,
making it very hard to teach a child how he or she
should eat healthy.  The cheapest and easiest foods
are those that are normally the least healthy.  If
you give your child the choice between healthy food
and junk food, you normally won’t like the results.

Even though it isn’t possible to get a child to like
all healthy foods, there are some ways to get your
child to try and hopefully like at least a few of
them.  You can be as creative as you like, as getting
kids to eat healthy foods can be a little harder than
you may think.

-  Sneak the healthy food in.  Even though it would
be great if your kid understood the importance of
fruits and vegetables, this isn’t always possible.
If you can’t get them to eat good food willingly,
there are ways to sneak them in, such as making
muffins out of bananas or apples, or pizza with
spinach on it.

-  Call fruits and vegetables by funny names.  You
can refer to broccoli as “trees”, making them
more fun to eat.  There are many different names
you can call fruits and vegetables, even making up
your own if you prefer.  Most kids prefer to eat
foods that sound fun.

-  Make the foods taste better. Ranch dressing is
great for broccoli, while peanut butter is a great
topping for celery.  There are several combinations
for vegetables that can make them taste much
better.  You can let your child pick a topping
for a vegetable, even if it’s something you wouldn’t
normally like yourself.

-  Dress the vegetables up.  Just as much as calling
them names help kids eat healthy foods, making them
look funny also helps.  You can do this by making
funny designs on the plate, or setting them up to
look like people.  Although some parents don’t like
their kids playing with their food, sometimes it
helps to get them to eat healthier.

There are several ways to make your kids eat
healthier, but to make them enjoy it also has to
be fun as well.  This isn’t always an easy task,
because kids normally don’t like foods that are
good for them.  It can however, be done with a bit
of creativity.  Hopefully, doing this will help
your child develop a love of healthy foods for the
rest of their lives.

Your New Baby, Blogging, and Modern Motherhood

For the mother of a new baby, blogging is likely to be
the last thing on her mind. Taking care of an infant is an
almost incredible amount of work, and between
changing diapers and putting the final touches on the
nursery, it seems unrealistic to imagine that there would
be time left over for any mother to blog. However, a
growing number of new moms are joining the
blogosphere to share their experiences during this
exciting time of life. There is a whole range of benefits
that new mothers can reap from blogging, and the
spectrum covers everything from getting through the
night to helping distant relatives feel closer.

Among the reasons why, for a mom dealing with the
hassles and triumphs of a baby, blogging is a great idea,
is that having a blog about motherhood is a great way to
blow off some steam. Babies often have very erratic
sleep patterns that leave parents up at odd hours of the
night, and sometimes the best way to fill those hours is
on the internet. Many new moms turn to television to
help them weather these dawn vigils, but by blogging
through the night moms can turn what feels like a
somewhat depressing situation into an actively positive
and productive one.

Another reason why new moms often find blogging
very satisfying is that it helps them to be a part of a
community. For moms who are not able to successfully
juggle a full social life with the very tough demands of
taking care of a new baby, blogging can be a great way
to stave off the isolation that sometimes comes with this
stage of life. A baby requires constant attention, and it
can be difficult to attend social gatherings or events
when you are responsible for an infant. Luckily, the
blogosphere is full of other moms in the same situation,
and by chatting with them it is possible to overcome
some of the loneliness that many new mothers are
surprised to encounter.

Of course, for a mom with an adorable new baby,
blogging can be as much about celebration as it is about
necessity. Having a blog about living with a new child
can give mothers the chance to reflect on how powerful
and warm the sensation of motherhood is, and
sometimes sharing the triumphs of this unique time can
make them even sweeter. A blog is a great way to keep
friends and family updated with news about your baby’s
first words or first steps, and with new technology it is
easier than ever to make photos and video clips a part of
your blog, so you can give far-away relatives the chance
to feel much more involved in your child’s life.

Contributing to WordPress, Part II: Graphic Design

As mentioned previously, the icon design contest was such a success that we realized we needed to create more ways for graphic designers to contribute to the WordPress open source project. Our community is chock full of talent, and this talent is just itching to get involved. So, we’re trying out a few ideas. First and most immediate is the creation of a new “component” in Trac for graphic design. We’ll use this component label to create tickets for things like making graphic buttons, such as making a new version of the favorites menu graphic or WordPress mark that looks better with the blue admin theme. In some cases graphic design tasks will overlap with CSS tasks, so designers interested in contributing can search for open tickets with either component label. In cases where a base PSD file is needed as a starting point, we will attach it to the ticket. In this vein, if you notice a graphic that needs fixing (like the aforementioned favorites menu button needing a blue version), please use the graphic design component label to report it in Trac. Please don’t create tickets for graphic you just don’t like… keep it to things that look broken or overlooked. Graphic design tasks will follow the same protocol as development tasks in that volunteer work will be overseen/curated by the core team. Both Matt Thomas (who provided the art direction for 2.7) and I will work with the core development team to identify design tasks and review submissions (i.e., we’ll make sure things look awesome before they’re committed). We’ve been trying this process with an early volunteer, and it seems to be working well. In addition to creating individual Trac tickets, if a project arises that requires many graphic elements to be created, we will post about it here on the dev blog to give potential contributors a heads up. The second opportunity for graphic design contributions will be less about discrete tasks and more about contributing to the evolving visual design of WordPress. When there are larger design tasks in the works, such as creating an admin theme or designing the new media upload process, there will be opportunities for screen design. In these situations, potential contributors will be given access to materials such as wireframes or specifications and will be able to submit comps of design approaches. In the event that we receive multiple good submissions for a screen design, we will use a community vote to influence the final selection, as we did with the icon design contest. Since 2.8 is wrapping up currently, there aren’t many design tasks waiting to be completed right now, but when we roll into 2.9 development, there will be more opportunities for graphic designers to get involved.

Submit Your Summer of Code Application Now!

Students, secure your awesome summer by applying to the WordPress Summer of Code now! The deadline is in 3 hours, 12 noon PDT / 19:00 UTC.

Be like Billy.

Work at Home Moms Make More Money Working at Home!

The internet has taken on new meaning for work at home moms, allowing moms to not only stay home with their children but to also get paid to work at home. This is a huge turn of events in light of the current economic situation in the United States and abroad. It is important for moms to make more money working at home now more than ever. Most families require 2 incomes to survive, leaving children to be brought up by day care workers or family members. The cost of daycare alone is a full-time paycheck for most families.

 

Getting paid to stay at home is a necessity. Without this additional income mothers all over the world are forced to make a decision between their children and that second income. The economy is not going to get better anytime soon. Work at home moms need to make more money working at home. They must be able to survive while nurturing their children, teaching them, and guiding them into adulthood.

 

Now comes the question of how do these moms accomplish this task of how to make more money working from home? The internet is inundated with ways to launch an online business. Finding any program that does not just make promises of wealth is a job in itself. Once any person decides to be a work at home mom (or dad), the next step is to research the businesses available.

 

There are key points to look for when searching for an online business that can produce enough additional income for your family. First, look at the business itself, is it a solidly structured program that puts you as the business owner in a position to grow. Secondly, does the business promote a realistic outcome that even the newest entrepreneur can  accomplish. And last but not least, does this new business have a physical address, a person that you can call for support and a legally structured program in place. Most of the latter information is found in the terms of service that all businesses should disclose completely.

 

In order for moms to make more money working at home they have to allow enough time to work their business in a productive manner. These moms have a natural ability to not only make more money working at home but to also take care of the multitude of responsibilities of raising children at the same time. This natural ability that work at home moms have is exactly why they have a higher success rate in online businesses than if they had a traditional job outside of the home. Keeping with the trend of the current economy this is the most reliable and stable form of income than any traditional job can offer. Moms know, they adapt and then overcome with such grace and dignity that most people actually miss this concept.

 

Work at home moms make more money working at home because they are driven by a desire to raise their children. You also are able to learn from any mom out there that is successfully running an online business. If you understand the concept, anyone, even dads can work from home. Just focusing on the end result is the key factor, this is what guides us today to create the wealth for our families for many years to come.